Fire box adjustor for charcoal broiler



United States Patent 25A, 25B, 25C, 9

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,460,125 l/1949 Carrolll26/25(A)UX 2,950,712 8/1960 Terry l26/25(A)UX Primary ExaminerCharlesJ. Myhre Att0rney--Kingsland, Rogers, Ezell, Eilers and RobbinsABSTRACT: A fire box adjuster for a charcoal broiler wherein a pluralityof struts are connected by swivels to a fire box support and to a lowerpan. The fire box support is guided for vertical non-rotationalmovement. The pan is rotatably mounted in a housing. A rod having ahandle is connected to the pan for rotating the pan. Rotation of the panorients the struts to raise and lower the fire box.

FIRE BOX ADJUSTOR FOR CHARCOAL BROILER BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEINVENTION A housing has a circular opening in it for supporting a panfor rotational movement. The pan has flanges overlying the bottom wallof the housing beyond the periphery of the circular opening and hasclamps for providing frictional restraints against rotational movementof the pan. A rod is connected to a side of the pan and the outer end ofthe rod has a handle to be grasped for swinging the rod to rotate thepan. A fire box for containing charcoal is positioned above the pan.Aplurality of struts are connected to swivel brackets on the lower sideof the fire box support and to swivel brackets on the upper surface ofthe bottom wall of the pan. The fire box support is guided for verticaland non-rotational movement so that, as the pan rotates, the fire boxsupport is prevented from rotating. As the pan rotates, it rotates thebrackets carried by it and therefore swings the struts to move thembetween generally horizontal positions to generally vertical positions.As the struts are thus moved, they raise and lower the fire box support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a top plan view of thefirebox support and adjustor assembly.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the fire box support and adjustorassembly.

FIG. 3 is a right side elevation view of the fire box support andadjustor assembly with portions shown in section.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary rear elevation view of the fire box support andadjustor assembly.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken along the line5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the fire box support and adjustor assemblywith portions shown in section and showing the fire box in a partiallyelevated position.

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of the fire box support and adjustorassembly in the condition illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken along the line8-8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the fire box support and adjustor assemblyrotated to the fully elevated position.

FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of the fire box support and adjustorassembly in the condition of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the pan illustratinga brake clip and a strut and bracket.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view in section taken along the line 12-12 ofFIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view in section taken along the line l313 ofFIG. 11.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary view in section illustrating the upper portionof the strut of FIG. I3 and the upper swivel bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in the drawings, the firebox adjustor for a charcoal broiler has a lower housing 21 thatcomprises side panels 22 and 23 and a back panel 24, all joined to abottom panel 25. There are upper flanges 26 and 27 joined to the upperedges of the side panels 22 and 23, and an upper flange '28 joined tothe upper edge of the back panel 24. A front upper flange 29 is weldedbetween the flanges 26 and 27. The space between the front flange 29 andthe bottom panel is open, and a door 30 having side flanges 31 and 32 ishinged on suitable pins or rivets 33 that extend through the lowercorners of the side flanges 31 and 32 and through the side panels 22 and23. The door 30 has a knob 34 by which it can be swung open to exposethe open front for cleaning purposes and for sliding a fire box into thehousing. The housing may be other than rectangular, or its constructionmay be varied.

Also, the usual upper housing (not shown), enclosing a suitable cookinggrill with a cover and a water pan as desired, would be mounted abovethe lower housing 21.

As shown in FIG. I and 4, an axle 37 extends through the lower rearcorners of the side panels 22 and 23, and wheels 38 are mounted on theouter ends of the axle 37. A leg 39 is connected to the bottom panel 25adjacent the front of the housing 21 and midway between the side panels22 and 23. There is a rubber or plastic foot 40 on the lower end of theleg 39.

The bottom panel 25 has a circular opening 42 in it. A pan 43 has acylindrical side wall .44 that projects downwardly through the opening42 and has a bottom wall 45. An annular flange 46 joined to the upperedge of the cylindrical side wall 44 overlies the bottom panel 25radially outwardly of the opening 42. There are a plurality of clips 47acting as brakes positioned about the periphery of the annular flange 46and fastened to the bottom panel 25 by bolts 48. As shown in FIGS. 11and 12, the clips 47 have radially inwardly extending arms 49 thatoverlie and press against the annular flange 46. Thus, the annularflange 46 is pressed between the bottom panel 25 and the overlying arms49 to restrain rotation of the pan 43 unless an external force isapplied.

As shown particularly in FIGS. 1, 9 and 10, a rod 52 is welded to aplate 53 that is fastened by rivets'54 to the cylindrical side 44 of thepan 43. The rod 52 has a section 55 that, as viewed in FIG. 1, extendsoutwardly and iscurved to the right, joining a section 56 that generallyparallels asegment of the periphery of the pan 43. The section 56 leadsto another section 57 that extends straight to the right past theright-hand wheel 38 and leads to an up-turned end 58 (see FIG. 2). Avertically upwardly extending handle 59 is connected to the upwardlyextending end 58 of the rod 52 w 'A pair ofvertical channel members I52and 63 are positioned adjacent the centers of the inner surfaces of theside panels 22 and 23 respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, each channelmember is connected to the housing 21 by an angle member 64 welded to itand fastened by rivets or screws 65 to the adjacent flanges 26 and 27,respectively, and by a lower tab 66 fastened to the bottom panel 25 by arivet or screw 67. The channels 62 and 63 are oriented to present theirvertical grooves 68 and 69, respectively, inwardly.

A rectangular fire box support 72 comprises a bottom panel 73 with sidewalls 74 and 75 and a back wall 76. There is no front wall, therebyfacilitating sliding of a fire box (not shown) onto the support 72 afterthe charcoal has been lightedand properly conditioned remote from thebroiler. There are narrow plates 77 and 78 welded to the underside ofthe bottom wall 73 of the fire box support 72 and received within thevertical grooves 68 and 69 of the channel members 62 and 63respectively. The narrow plates 77 and 78 ride within theverticalgrooves 68 and 69 to permit vertical movement of the fire boxsupport 72 while preventing rotation.

There are three U-brackets 81, 82 and 83 each ofwhich is swivellyconnected by a rivet 84 to the bottom 45'of the pan 43. The U-brackets81, 82 and 83 are equally spaced about the bottom 45 of the pan 43 andare positioned near the cylindrical side wall 44. Similarly, threeU-brackets 85, 86 and 87 face downwardly and are pivotally connected tothe bottom panel 73 of the fire box support 72 by rivets 88.

Three struts 90, 91 and 92 in the form of channel members are connectedbetween the pan 43 and the fire box support 72, the strut 90 beingpivotally connected by a pin 93 that extends between the upstanding earsof the brackets 81 and pivotally connected by a pin 94 connected betweenthe ears of the downwardly extending bracket (see FIGS. 11 and 13), thestrut 91 being pivotally connected by similar pins 93 and 94 that extendbetween the ears of the brackets 82 and 86 respectively, and the strut92 being pivotally connected by similar pins 93 and 94 that extendbetween ears of the brackets 83 and 87 respectively.

OPERATION A s box h sn sr ss qi l nss .b r inssharsqa is opening thefront door 30 and pushing the fire box (not shown) onto the fire boxpanel 73 since there is no obstructing front panel on the fire boxsupport 72. Above the housing 21 and above the vertical guides 62 and63, the food to be cooked is placed upon a suitable grill (not shown).Through the mechanisms of this invention, the height of the fire boxsupport 72 is adjustable between the low position illustrated in FIGS. 1through 5 to the upper position illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In the low position, the handle 59 has been grasped to swing the rod 52to the position illustrated in FIG. 1 until the portion 57 of the rod 52has contacted the right-hand wheel 38. In this position, the pan 43 hasbeen rotated to position the brackets 81, 82 and 83 in the locationshown in FIG. 1. Since the fire box support 72 is prevented fromrotating by the interengagement of the narrow plates 77 and 78 withinthe vertical grooves 68 and 69 of the guides 62 and 63, the brackets 85,86 and 87 are always maintained in the relative positions illustrated inFIG. 1. When the brackets 81, 82 and 83 are swung to the position shownin FIG. 1, therefore, the struts 90, 91 and 92 extend diagonally andtherefore draw the tire box support 72 down to the low positionillustrated in FIG. 5.

To elevate the fire box support 72, the handle 66 is grasped to draw therod 52in a clockwise direction away from the right-hand wheel 38. Therod 52 may be turned to an intermediate position such as the oneillustrated in FIG. 6. In this position, the rod 52 and the pan 43 havebeen rotated approximately 120. This means that the brackets 81, 82 and83 have been rotated approximately 120 from the positions they occupiedas shown in FIG. 1. This moves the brackets 81, 82 and 83 to withinapproximately 60 arc spacing from their associated brackets 85, 86 and87 respectively, moving the struts 90, 91 and 92 from diametricorientation part way toward vertical orientation. The swivel connectionsof the brackets 81, 82, 83, 85, 86 and 87 permit these motions to takeplace. Movement of the struts 90, 91 and 92 toward vertical positionsforces the tire box support 72 to the intermediate elevated positionillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. Movement of the rod 52 to any otherintermediate position can be done to position the fire box support 72 toany other desired intermediate position.

To fully elevate the fire box support 72, the rod 52 is swung to theposition illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. In this position the curvedsection 55 of the rod 52 contacts the leg 39, this contact acting as alimiting stop against further swinging movement of the rod 52. Thisfurther swinging movement of the rod 52 swings the pan 43 through afarther arc of approximately 60 beyond the position illustrated in FIG.6 for a total rotation of approximately 180 from the positionillustrated in FIG. 1. It swings the brackets 81, 82 and 83 to therelative positions illustrated in FIG. 9 at which they are almostdirectly below the brackets 85, 86 and 87 respectively. This forces thestruts 90, 91 and 92 to approximately vertical positions and forces thefire box support 72 to its maximum height as illustrated in FIG. 10.

As the pan 43 is rotated by movement of the rod 52, the fire box support72 is prevented from rotating as the narrow plates 77 and 78 are guidedvertically within the vertical grooves 68 and 69 of the verticalchannels 62 and 63. To lower the fire box support 72, the rod 52 issimply moved in a reverse direction and this rotates the pan 53 in acounter clockwise direction to reverse the procedure already described.When the rod 52 is swung to the position shown in FIG. 1 with the rodsection 57 contacting the wheel 38, further movement of the rod 52 in acounter clockwise direction is stopped and the fire box support 72 isagain positioned in its lowest position.

The restraint to rotation of the pan 43 produced by the friction of thearms 49 overlying the annular flange 46 helps hold the pan 43 in anyrotated position. Yet, because of the leverage provided by the rod 52,the pan 43 is freely rotatable when the rod is swung.

Various changes and modifications may be made within this invention aswill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching 0 thisinvention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A fire box adjustor for a charcoal broiler comprising a housing forsupporting charcoal broiler components, a pan rotatably supportedadjacent the bottom of the housing, means to rotate the pan about avertical axis, a fire box support for supporting charcoal, a pluralityof struts, means to pivotally and swivelly connect one end of each strutto the fire box support and the other end of each strut to the pan,means to guide the fire box support for nonrotational vertical movement,and means to rotate the pan to move the fire box support vertically.

2. The fire box adjustor of claim 1 wherein the housing has a roundopening in its bottom, the pan extending through the opening and havinga flange overlying the bottom of the housing radially beyond theopening, and friction-producing means connected to the housing tofrictionally restrain the pan against rotation.

3. The fire box adjustor of claim 1 including supports for supportingthe housing on a horizontal surface, at least some of the supportscomprising wheels, the means to rotate the pan comprising a rod havingone end connected to a side of the pan and the other end having a handleon it, the rod being bent to substantially parallel a segment of theperiphery of the pan.

4. The fire box adjustor of claim 3 wherein the rod has a portionadjacent the handle positioned to be stopped against one of the housingsupports and a portion adjacent the said one end positioned to bestopped against another one of the housing supports to limit theswinging are of the rod and thereby define the limits of the rotation ofthe pan.

5. The fire box adjustor of claim 1 wherein the means to guide the firebox support comprises a pair of vertical posts connected todiametrically opposite sides of the housing, a pair of lugs connected todiametrically opposite sides of the fire box support and the lugs andposts having a tongue and groove interfit.

6. The tire box adjustor of claim 4 wherein there' are three housingsupports, two of which are wheels and the third of which is a fixed leg.

7. The fire box adjustor of claim 3 wherein the handle extendsvertically upwardly from the rod.

